Andrew Dyke wrote:
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> A recent letter in a magazine we get monthly makes reference to the
> 'steering from the cant'. Which bit of the boat is the cant?
>
A cant is a piece of wood used to secure the fore and aft decks to the
hull on a wooden boat,
the same pieces of wood and now shaped metal can be found on metal
boats. They also serve as the stop which stops one slipping off the
deck. On a short boats such as Dee or Irwell the cants are a piece of 1"
by 1/4" strip steel raised about 3/4" of the deck on little posts, to
allow water to flow off the deck, It goes most of the way around the
outer edge of the decking. Again it is there to stop one slipping of the
deck. On bigger boats such as the ex Kelloggs boats
it was a similar strip mounted vertically with holes made beneath it,
for drainage.
When steering a loaded/heavy narrow boat, they are sometimes useful to
brace ones foot against, similarly when shafting a boat, thus the need
for them at fore and aft..
So if you where building a brand new working narrow boat with the latest
technology, you would still need them, even if you had joystick
steerage, for your harbour-master unit.
--
cheers Ian Mac
